A Lesson for Gareth Bryne
by Blue Dragon
Summary: SPOILERS SPOILERS Add-in to chapter 41 of "The Gathering Storm"; Siuan's little escapade alone through the Tower. And yes, she left Gareth behind on purpose. She thought he needed a reminder of his new responsibilities...


A Lesson for Gareth Bryne

_*tie-in to The Gathering Storm's Chapter 41 – A Fount of Power*_

What Bryne saw, was a courtyard and a looming battle. So he told Siuan to go and stand at the edge of the courtyard, until it was safe. What Siuan saw, was a chance to teach her new Warder a valuable lesson. One that, sooner or later, all Warders had to learn.

Namely to keep an eye on the bond. At all times. Even during battle.

And besides, she needed to be about business which would not go smoothly if she had a pack of soldiers looming over her.

So she snuck away. Well, she _glided_ quickly away in her best Aes Sedai manner. Bryne didn't notice. She wasn't sure if she should be grateful or angry at him; being rid of the soldiers was one thing, but she had sort of hoped her new Warder would be attentive enough to realise that she was about to disappear…

Bloody easily-distracted man. But he would learn.

She made her quiet way along the edge of the courtyard, and in through a door into the Tower complex. No one noticed her. They were too busy fighting.

_Men_.

Not even her new Warder.

_Men_!

Oh, but he would learn, and – she had to smile – _soon_.

The inside of the Tower was surprisingly empty of people, and of sounds. She had expected more fighting. Apparently the fighting was busy elsewhere – not that she would complain. She was near the servants' quarters, and near the kitchens, and had come in through a side door. She hadn't been in that part of the Tower since her days as a Novice. Scrubbing floors on hands and knees, if she recalled correctly. After having being caught balancing a bucket of kitchen slops over an Accepted's door.

Well, the Accepted's shrill shriek had been worth a day or four of scrubbing.

After a moment's thought and pursed lips, she aimed for the kitchens. With a bit of luck, she would find someone _useful_ in here. If her luck turned sour, however, she might very well find herself caught and collared, reeled in like a blue-fin in a fine net and flopping about uselessly. She had no illusions that her current strength in the Power would be a match for any of the _damane_ the Seanchan had chosen to send. They would have sent the best, the strongest.

She shivered. This was the thing that made _Egwene_ afraid. If it made _her_ afraid…

And Gareth bloody Bryne had still noticed _nothing_! Maybe she _should_ get herself collared. _That_ would teach him to pay attention.

Not catching how she slipped off like that.

Collared..? Then again, maybe not.

She stuck her head into the kitchens and found them… not empty. There was Laras, armed with a big wooden spoon, this time holding it like a weapon and gesturing wildly with it as she – in a hissing, angry voice – told a trio of her cowering underlings to straighten their spine.

Apparently Laras was ready to defend her domain, even against Seanchan, and Light help the kitchen maid who didn't stand and fight beside her.

Siuan shook her head in wry amusement and slipped away before any of them saw her. Likely, Laras would manage to have supper ready in time, too. The woman was like an avalanche, and it seemed she had rallied most of the people in this level. Kitchen maids, a few Novices, and servants whose livery said they had nothing to do with the kitchen normally.

Siuan had no wish to be caught up in it.

She hoped Gareth and his men didn't come running in right then. Likely Laras would recruit them, too. Curiously, she prodded the bond, only to find that… that Gareth bloody Bryne was still happily focused on his swordplay, and fully unaware that she – _she_, his Aes Sedai! – had slipped away.

Siuan muttered to herself as she advanced toward the dining halls.

The entire place was so _empty_. Did none of the Novices earn penances down here anymore? If she went into the kitchen Laras would draft her in a moment, she had no doubt, Aes Sedai or not, and she didn't have time to get out of that pickle. But surely somewhere there had to be a girl who'd been caught with a bucket of slop and set to scrub floors down here, and who _hadn't_ been conscripted by the mistress of kitchens…

Under one of the trembling wall hangings, a pair of white slipper toes stuck out.

_Trembling_ wall hangings?

Siuan stalked over to it and drew it aside.

The Novice behind it gave a shriek, and – to her credit – actually managed to grasp the Source as if to defend herself.

Siuan slapped her. "Pull yourself together, child! Scream like that again and we'll have the Seanchan here for sure!"

After the girl had blinked twice and taken a good look at Siuan, she wobbled into a curtsy, trembling too bad to straighten her legs again without Siuan's support.

Siuan held on to her arm and began to drag the girl with her down the corridors. "What's your name, child?"

"Ha-hashala, Aes Sedai," squeaked the Novice. "Are… are they the Seanchan? I – I saw them take Lovenyas Sedai, and – and – and –"

"They're the Seanchan. Tell me of Lovenyas later." In her head was a vague recollection of a Grey sister, not too strong in the Power, who taught classes in law but was never much liked by her pupils. Not that she liked them, either. Perhaps Hashala _had_ been caught with a bucket.

She looked down at the trembling girl. Then again, perhaps not.

"What do you know of a girl called Egwene al'Vere?"

"The Amyrlin?" piped the girl, then slapped her hand over her mouth and went as white as her dress.

"Yes, the Amyrlin," Siuan affirmed impatiently. "How is she? Where is she?"

"She's back in the Novice quarters, Aes Sedai," Hashala said, curiously studying Siuan as if to figure out why her exclamation hadn't been severely punished yet. "The ones upstairs."

Siuan blinked. "The ones _upstairs_?"

Hashala looked even more curious. "You – haven't heard, Aes Sedai? The Novice quarters have switched places with some of the Brown quarters. They're up on the twenty-second level."

"_Switched places_?" Siuan hissed, unable to stop herself.

"It's – it's the Dark One touching the world, they said, Aes Sedai," whispered Hashala uncertainly, her short black hair sweeping back and forth in time with how she shook her head, as if denying it would somehow make it go away. "The Dark One."

"Shush with the Dark One. Can't do much about him now. That's for tomorrow, and for the Dragon. First, how is Egwene? You're sure she's in the Novices' quarters – upstairs?"

Hashala nodded. "I'm sure, Aes Sedai. They drug her with that nasty Forkroot tea, and it –"

"_Forkroot_?" Siuan repeated, and suppressed an urge to spit at the floor. Damn Elaida! That would mean Egwene was unable to defend herself. "Quick, girl," she said, and picked up her pace so that she was almost running, still dragging Hashala at her side. "There isn't much _time_."

Now Siuan was only glad for the empty corridors, and gladder still for the lack of Seanchan. They likely figured their prizes would be concentrated at the Tower top, and they were right. Few full sisters ventured into the servants' corridors behind the kitchens.

She found the same door out to the courtyard which she had left it by, and paused before opening it. Bryne had still not noticed that she was gone. He still fought.

"Aes – Aes Sedai?" said Hashala. "Are we just… going to sit here? Aren't we going out?"

"No," Siuan crisped distractedly. "Not yet."

She felt the bond. Sooner or later it would come. The burst of panic when he realised that she was gone. She waited.

During her youth she had envied Moiraine her patience. She envied her again, now. It was all she could do to keep from tapping her foot, or drumming her fingers. Bloody Bryne. How could he not notice? Making her stand there and wait. Burn the man!

"I thought – I thought we were in a hurry, Aes Sedai,"

"Don't question your betters, child. And don't speak unless spoken to. _Light_! How long have you been here? You should have learned that before you'd finished buttoning up your first white dress!"

Hashala blushed, and silenced. Siuan waited.

Ah – there it came. Sudden panic. She smiled to herself. It was good to feel. So he did care that she was missing, did he? After all. How very _nice_.

She let him stew in that panic a few more moments. Just enough to give him a good taste of it.

"Now," she told the Novice, "we go out." She opened the door and stepped through.

The look in his eyes when she approached him, towing Hashala, made her heart flutter. So _intense_. And that bond –

She steeled herself.

"Who is _that_?" he demanded. "Where did you go?"

Siuan clicked her tongue, told Hashala to wait, and took Bryne by the sleeve of his coat to pull him aside for a private chat. "Your soldiers were busy, and I decided it would be a good time to gather information," she said lowly. "And, I might note, we're going to have to work on your attitude, Gareth Bryne. That's not the proper way for a Warder to speak to his Aes Sedai."

"I'll start worrying about that when _you_ start acting like you have two bits of sense in your head, woman. What if you'd run in to Seanchan?"

_Yes, what if_? she thought amusedly. _Let him stew on __that__ thought in good peace. _"Then I would have been in danger," she told him matter-of-factly, and set her hands on her hips. "It wouldn't be the first time. I couldn't risk being seen by other Aes Sedai with you or your soldiers. Such simple disguises won't fool a sister."

"And what if you'd been recognized?" he demanded, voice rising. "Siuan, these people tried to _execute_ you!"

Oh, very good. He'd remembered. Siuan felt like a purring cat, and hoped it didn't show through the bond. Hopefully he'd berate himself over why he hadn't remembered _sooner_. After all, it was now his task to keep her from such little dangers.

Correction. To _keep her_ from _nothing_. It was his task to make certain she didn't have to face such dangers without him there to watch her back.

But _recognized_? Bloody unlikely.

She sniffed. "Moiraine herself wouldn't recognize me with this face. The woman in the Tower will just see a young Aes Sedai who looks faintly familiar. Besides, I didn't run into any of them. Just this child." She raised her voice. "Hashala, come here."

Hashala came at a quick trot.

"Tell this man what you told me."

"Yes, Aes Sedai," said the Novice and curtsied, very precisely. Siuan approved.

As the girl spoke, Bryne made a gesture, and at once his soldiers formed up about them like an honour guard. Bryne himself, though his face and bond told how absorbed he was in the Novice's tale, took a small step closer to Siuan. He likely didn't know himself that he had done it.

But Siuan smiled. She was pleased with herself. Not only was Hashala's information useful, but she very much suspected it would be more difficult to sneak away from her Warder the next time.


End file.
